Love My New 1991 Ls400

[brandnewman]

Hey, just bought a one owner 1991 LS 400 last week with 100,000 Carfax verified miles on the clock for $5600.00. The car is in beautiful shape plus I got a 3 month/3000 mile powertrain warranty. Got it from a Cleveland area used car wholesaler on Ebay.

The black jade metallic exterior has some small parking lot dings and chips. The gray leather interior is abousultely mint. Best of all, mechanically the car was absolutely pampered. I got a 1 inch thick stack of maintenance/repair records with the car, all done at the local Cleveland Lexus dealer (Metro Lexus). The first owners followed the service schedule in the owner's manual to the letter from the day they got it until 100,000 miles. The oil was changed every 3,000 miles, filters, gaskets at correct intervals, ball joints, brakes, etc. I even have the original window sticker and the dealer sales order from when they bought the car. The car stickered for $44,000 in 1991. They paid $42,000 less a $6,000 trade and paid the $36,000 balance in CASH!

The smooth quiet ride, responsive handling and V8 engine are amazing. :D And the stereo w/CD changer are absolutely awesome. ;)

It feels like I'm driving a brand new car. I say the Lexus LS400 is world class! Wow, what a car. :whistles: Can ya tell I'm pleased?

[nc211]

Congrats amigo, and welcome to the club! Sounds like you've got a sweet machine. These cars, backed by the mechanics and fueled by the manufactor are designed to run just as good at 100,000 miles as they did with 1 mile. They're increadible cars. You'll love yours!

[legend11]

Awesome, I am on the hunt for an LS400 too. You got a good deal, especially with the maintainance records you got too. Does this car have air suspension or not? Good price on it with that many miles. I was dealing with a guy who wanted about that for a 1990 with 133k and the exterior was not in excellent condition due to some paint fading away on it.

Congratulations.

[brandnewman]

Hey, MC thanks for the welcome. It's true, this car rides better than any BRAND NEW car I've ever leased/bought.

Legend, no air shocks on mine. Everything I've read on this site and elsewhere says stay away. Legend, I saw your thread. It's true, don't fall in love with the first car you see. There are many more out there, another car and deal will always pop up. I don't know how you feel about Ebay and if you can travel but take a look at this car.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...4557676027&rd=1

Check out this story. This car was up on Ebay about 2 weeks ago and the high bidder turned out to be a deadbeat jerk. I was outbid by the deadbeat winner, my top bid was $5450. Then 2 days after the auction was over the car's owner emails me and says "would I be interested in buying the car if the deal with the winner falls through". So I said, here's my cell number and call me if he doesn't buy it. But on that same day, I found the car I ended up buying. Sure enough, 2 days later and before I went to pick up the car I bought in Cleveland, he calls my cell and says it looks like no deal. I figure I'll talk to the guy just in case on the odd chance that the car I bought in Cleveland falls through for any reason. So me and the owner get to talking and I figure he needs to make a new deal with someone. So I tell him yeah I'm interested but not at what the deadbeat was willing to pay. The guy tips his hand and he says he couldn't believe the bidding went up that high. So I tell him I'll give you $4500 and he goes for it. I ended buying the one in Cleveland and I still feel good about the $5600 I paid because it has 27,000 less miles or about 2 years less of normal use on it.

What I'm saying is, he relisted the car again with a "Buy it now" of $6500 but he may just take somewhere around $4500 for the car. ;) Although, he may now be thinking he can get more because he just had it sold (sort of) for $5500. Then again, after getting burned by a deadbeat he'd probably appreciate some straight talk from a bona fide buyer. The car has a clean Carfax, I ran it myself. You could email him and tell him you'd like to make a deal to end the auction. Then you make a deal, give him a deposit, fly in and if you like the car pay him the rest and drive it home. Think of that nice ride back to Denver in a 1992 LS400, just you and your girlfriend. B) Or from what I've seen, you could have it shipped to your driveway for around $700 to $800. Note, car has a dent in rear quarter panel on passenger side but looks pretty clean otherwise. Nice thing is he says it's been dealer maintained and he'll hand over all the records. To me, that tells you that he's on the level about the car's condition and about the way the car has been maintained. When I spoke to him he sounded like a decent guy.

Anyway, check out the cars on Ebay, it will give you another way to see what's out there.

[akewlguy]

Congrats.. ENJOY the LEXUS!

[SRK]

Welcome to the Collective. There is no return now.

[brandnewman]

Thanks all,

It's crazy, but now I almost look forward to getting up in the morning to go to work just so I can drive my new LS400! B)

But, I look forward to 5:00 P.M. and the drive home alot more. :D

That Nakamichi sound system must be killer. Mine has the Pioneer and that is a sweet sounding setup. If the Nakamichi is a step up from that it must really be something.

I need to get the power steering pump looked at. While I was reading through all of the dealer maintenance records I got with the car, I noticed that the owner was told of a minor leak about 2 months ago. They declined to fix it because they were trading it in a couple of weeks. It was nice getting those records. I can see not only everything they fixed but also all of the observations from the dealer's mechanics regarding the inspections they did during servicing.

I took a look at the PS pump and it appears to be a minor leak as it's not dripping but more like just seeping. I've noticed from other posts that can lead to alternator damage. Guess I'll have to get on that right away.

Anybody have any insight/opinions on a good rebuilt pump? It looks kind of tight in there but I'm sure I can do the change myself.

How about where to buy service manuals? I checked and I had trouble finding a Helms or Chilton manaual available.